Xerath/Strategy

Gameplay

Xerath, the Magus Ascendant, is our newest mage-type character in League of Legends. His playstyle offers a new way to perform the mage-carry role; long range barrages and sieging.

The cornerstone of this is in his ability Locus of Power. This makes Xerath immobile, but gives his spells massively increased range and defense penetration. This really allows him to set up and barrage an area before becoming mobile again to perform a more standard mage role.

Using this range gameplay, Xerath has wide-area spells he can use to really saturate an area with major damage. Arcanopulse, his bread-and-butter ability, shoots a short-delay beam at the area, zapping anyone hit for significant damage. Arcane Barrage, his ultimate, allows him to launch up to three massive explosions at a long range, both doing area denial and good team damage. To protect himself, Mage Chains is a reliable single-target spell that will allow Xerath to stun an enemy if he hits him with a subsequent spell.

Xerath is something we liken to a Howitzer or artillery piece. He should really appeal to people who enjoy very long ranges and like aiming skillshots and leading targets. We're excited to offer a new mage paradigm to League of Legends, and will be continuing to add new ways to play existing roles into the game.

Tricks

As an artillery mage, Xerath has amazing range and damage, allowing him to harass or farm from a safe distance.

Arcanopulse is best used for harassing and farming. This ability can also be used to snipe targets.

Eye of Destruction is also great for farming and harassing, plus the movement slow makes targets easier to hit.

Shocking Orb can help keep you safe from ganks as you can stun anyone who comes close. Note that the stun last longer the farther it travels.

One of his weaknesses is his constant need to attack a minion or champion with an auto-attack to regain mana, as Xerath's mana costs are high. This is noticeable in the early game.

Do not overcharge your Arcanopulse unnecessarily. Charging does not increase the damage, only the range. There's no need to fully charge it if you don't need the extra range.

Some effective skill combos include:

Use the stun from Shocking Orb to land an easy bullseye with Eye of Destruction and a quick Arcanopulse. This will deal the maximum damage, but it is hard to hit Shocking Orb without setup. In lane, only do this combo if your enemy overextends and you're able to hit Shocking Orb because of that. Otherwise, it is advised to use the combo below. In teamfights this combo is massive, so try using it whenever you can.

A good point to keep in mind with all combos is that the setup you used to hit Arcanopulse is also very useful if you decide to use Rite of the Arcane for the killing blow.

Xerath is one of the most powerful mages thanks to his range and damage output, but has major weaknesses:

His abilities are all skillshots, therefore can be dodged just by simply moving out of the way. Against nimble or smarter opponents, it becomes necessary for players to read and predict their movements to ensure the abilities hit.

He possesses poor mobility, and most of his abilities temporarily worsen his already poor mobility.

Xerath is prone to depleting his mana pool quickly, and his passive requires him to get close to recover mana.

In teamfights, Xerath deals severe AoE damage and is very effective against tightly grouped enemies.

Rite of the Arcane has amazing range and deals massive damage, however its delay between shots make it easy for unhindered enemies to dodge. Thus it is best used in conjunction with an ally.

It is also great for stealing objectives. He can reach both Dragon and Baron Nashor from mid lane.

This skill can also be used to snipe targets from a safe distance, especially fleeing champions. Take note that both teams can see the ring that indicates the ability's maximum range.

Hitting Rite of the Arcane is pretty tricky to hit often, due to issues with vision or being against an opponent that is able to dodge all the shots. Here are some great ways to deal with this:

Using Rite of the Arcane after your target gets CC'd will help you hitting the shots, because the opponent has less possibility of dodging it.

If the target flees into the fog of war while you are channeling Rite of the Arcane, you must get vision somehow if you want to hit the shots. Predicting their position while they are hidden may guarantee a successful hit.

Take your time. You have 10 seconds to fire 3 shots while your enemies need to get out of your ult fast. If you use your time to your benefit by figuring out their movement pattern, there is a larger chance that your shots will hit them.

If you know where the enemy is about to move, use that against them by shooting on the spots they will be moving in some seconds.

Sometimes, it is better to let them use recall and use Rite of the Arcane after that. They might be looking away from their own place or seeing things in the shop.

Later in the game with at least rank 2 on Rite of the Arcane, Xerath can cast the first shot quicker than the range indicator animation. Use this to quickly kill the careless enemies far away.

Xerath has several options for summoner spells:

Ignite is generally a poor choice since Xerath is rarely close enough to use it.

Flash is best used for defense, as Xerath already has long range. Also, you can use it during charging Arcanopulse to kill fleeing enemies if you are too slow to keep up.

Barrier can help you survive against assassins, one of Xerath's major weaknesses.

Heal can also help you against assassins plus it has a movement speed boost, though the healing can be countered by Grievous Wounds.

Cleanse is generally a poor choice, since you have no escape to capitalize on it.

Exhaust has a short range, but protects you from some of your counters who have to rely on getting close in order to kill you, namely Fizz and Ahri. It also slows down targets so you can more reliably hit with all your attacks.

Mastery Usage

Item Usage

Xerath's range can allow him to build full offensive with cooldown reduction, ability power, magic penetration, and some mana regeneration to power it.

While Mejai's Soulstealer is usually a risky purchase, it is less so on Xerath due to his very long range. As long as he maintains himself far and protected, and avoid dying, getting stacks will be very easy, thanks to his abilities having long range. It is a viable purchase if you are snowballing. Be sure to avoid dying too much, else this item is a waste of slot.

In particular, Fizz is a strong counter to Xerath because he is extremely mobile and can use his Playful/Trickster to dodge all of Xerath's spells, including Shocking Orb. With Xerath's lack of mobility, he will simply be unable to dodge Chum the Waters if Fizz is close enough. However, laning against a Xerath as Fizz can actually be difficult due to Fizz's weak early game and vulnerability to Xerath's poke.

Xerath is very powerful and can poke your team down quickly. Every team must be able to deal with Xerath, as it is extremely difficult to deal with Xerath if your team does not have any way to engage on him late game, due to him having one of the longest ranges in the game combined with his insane poke damage.

That said, hard engage is a high weakness for Xerath due to his lack of mobility and because his Shocking Orb is a skillshot and can only hit a single target. Thus it is advised to run tanks with powerful engage tools such as Malphite'sUnstoppable Force and/or powerful assassins that can quickly close the gap to Xerath, such as Rengar and Kha'Zix. Running one of the two or even both can make it difficult for Xerath to do his job and shall make him a non-threat for your team.

Xerath is most powerful late game, especially with full items. Try to stop and starve him early.

Xerath's mana can be depleted quickly and he needs to come in short range for his passive to work.

Try and make him waste his attacks, and then counter when he is out of mana.

With his long range Xerath can be a threat to other lanes, notify your team if he leaves your lane.

Most of Xerath's attacks are AoE, try to stay spread out in team fights.

Avoid getting hit by his Shocking Orb, as the stun gives him ample opportunity to land his combo.

Observing Xerath can help you to dodge his Arcanopulse. When you see Xerath slow down, it's time to start dodging left or right, perpendicular to the imaginary line between you and Xerath. This gives you an extra warning besides the lit track before it's about to hit.

Casting Rite of the Arcane makes Xerath immobile, and makes him immune to displacements. However, hard CC like stuns and silences interrupt Rite of the Arcane and put it on cooldown, so saving these for when he casts his ultimate is worth it.

When Xerath uses Rite of the Arcane, a large circle quickly expands from it. This circle is visible by everyone, and it indicates his maximum cast range. Use this to your advantage, and keep in mind that Rite of the Arcane is an AoE ability.